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Sir Peter apart, limb by limb, muscle by muscle, bone by bone. Alinor opened her eyes and looked at her messenger. The man whimpered and fell to his knees again. |
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"Go and summon Sir Guy to me," she said softly, and then, becoming aware of his fear, "It is not your fault, Bruse. You have done well enough." |
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As she dwelled lovingly on what she would do to Sir Peter, the man and her last visit to him flashed into Alinor's mind. Immediately, there was a strong smell of bad fish. Sir Peter might possibly have turned traitor, but he could not have turned idiot. If Ian was dead, the messenger would be dead also. There could be no difficulty in inviting Bruse in and slaying him if, as it seemed, the men-at-arms at Clyro had turned traitor with Sir Peter. Surely one more death on top of Ian's, his squires', and his troops' would be nothingand it would have bought several weeks of time at a crucial time of the year. Soon would be the time for harvest, the time for fattening the cattle for winter. If Sir Peter had killed Ian, he would need that time to prepare for the retribution which he must know would follow. After all, Alinor would not have expected the messenger to return immediately, and even if she did, his disappearance would carry fewer tales than his living mouth. No, Sir Peter was not that kind of fool. Had he killed Ian, he would never have let the messenger go. |
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Then there must be a purpose for allowing the messenger to return to her, and that could only be to draw her out to her husband's rescue. Alinor examined that idea carefully, wondering whether it had been bred out of her desire to believe Ian was alive. After all, most women would not come themselves to pry a prisoner out. But Sir Peter knew her; he would know she would come herself. No matter how she turned it, however, the answer was still the same. Ian must still be alive. He must be both bait and hostage. Alinor began to laugh. It would be quite a fish that that bait would catch. |
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